flexi cloud upgrade -- yes or no??

[OldPaint]

let me answer this..........with some information you dont seem to have .
1. there is nothing "to piece together" to make corel and a ROLAND cut vinyl. corel has the code/engine as HPGL which all plotters work with. going to the ROLAND WEB PAGE, D/L THE DRIVER.......installing it.........and setting it up is not much different then what has to be done in FLEXI and working out of the PRODUCTION MANAGER...........a step COREL DOESNT HAVE))))
2. THE COST....... again MONEY....... outlay for corel is a long way away from FLEXI.....
3. COREL SUPPORT is free....thru a web site i think its http://graphics-unleashed.unleash.com/2012/03/corel-videostudio-pro-x5-and-ultimate.html ALSO corel does have a pay for support...............and its such a stable product(i always stay 1-2 versions back)only problems are with new release versions................and those get fixed quickly.
4. speaking for myself...........I AM one of the guys most ASK FOR COREL HELP FROM))))))))))))))))))))))))) as i was 1 of the 1st 1992, CUTTING FROM COREL 3 to a ROLAND. at that time corel 3 work page was only 30 inch X 30 inch. now i did have work around this...........but being an ingenious kinda guy........it was easy))))) corel 7 and above versions.work space went to 150 feet X 150 feet!!!!
4.ahhhhh.......Nothing like one tool that can do multiple jobs!
YOU RIGHT.........AND COREL DOES THAT. all my design/creation/building of vectors...........IS DONE IN COREL DRAW)))))
i can draw blueprints in corel, can do a vehicle layout at FULL SIZE.........save, export, import any and all formats.....and the CDR. and CMX corel files are way smaller then AI, EPS...............
i have been telling people that if you take any version of corel above 7.............and decided to learn ITS FULL CAPABILITIES.... you got a year worth of learnin............to do.
i dont have a problem with any program on disc....its this out there in the ethereal netherworld of the CLOUD..... i cant see its worth.
5. FLEXI FEATURES..............for vinyl cutting..........all of the distortions, node editing, nesting and putting a box around what you cut.............are nice...........but in 22 years of cutting vinyl, i have never needed any of those things. when i have had to do something of shadows/perspective/manipulation on a CURVE..... again.......COREL IS FULL FEATURED AS WELL))))

 

[mrugen]

Flexi Cloud versus Others

“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad.”
—The president of the Michigan Savings Bank in 1903 advising Henry Ford’s lawyer, Horace Rackham, not to invest in the Ford Motor Co.

Sometimes it's difficult to see progress. And like it or not progress always happens. So here are some more thoughts:

FEATURES

Flexi Cloud has BOTH cut and print features built in. Every cutter and every wide format printer. COREL? You'll need to buy a RIP unless you get a ROLAND, ready to add MUTOH and you'll be RIP hunting. Oh and by the way HPLatex printers now come with a FlexiBasic package. Maybe they see something here. Love COREL? AI? PS? MS-PUBLISHER? (UGH) If you have Flexi you can print right from that application to you wide format printer and bypass Flexidesign if you like.

Creating contour cuts is never easier. Overlapping contour paths weld automatically, not an extra step. Turn cut holes like inside of "O"s on or off with a simple check mark. Add perforation cuts for pop out decals. Finally,NEST the contour cuts and use less media.

Add CUSTOM weed lines for small or large lettering to make weeding easier, no guessing where to cut by hand.

POLL the width of the vinyl making the use of scrapes easier and no missing pieces. Preview what will cut and where BEFORE sending a job.

Add a bit of overcut to cutlines for better weeding, no more hanging chads (Noticed the Florida location LOL!)

Unidirectional cutting for thin medias such as window tint etc.

Templates for job presentation when needed. Design the job with dimensions and insert in a professionally designed template in three steps or make your own custom templates.

AutoSerialize numbers or names with ease. Great to repetitive numbers. Design your files and import a set of names and they will be placed automatically in the design.

Change the workspace so it LOOKS like COREL or AI and others, even with the same shortcut keys. New hire knows AI, make Flexi feel like AI!

Job Statistics and Estimation built in.

Braille, Bar Codes and QR Codes built in. Type the txt and it converts immediately.

Underbase and Finisher features for Gerber Edge users.

Color Trapping and color separations for screen printing included.

9 different Vectorizing routines.

Use Adobe Photoshop plugins inside Flexi.

Immediate access to FREE printer profiles. Support for virtually any cutter or wide format printer in the market.

Ink estimation for Wide Format Printers.

Modify or build your own ICC Profiles with built in profiling software.

COST

$50/mo. If you need a design station for travel or home, $20/mo. COREL gotta buy another full copy $500 plus each time.

To print from COREL, gotta buy a RIP unless you want to use a Roland forever. Run multiple printers and cutters simultaneously from Flexi no extra charge for profiles or drivers.

Workflow is simpler, no exporting to other programs needed in most cases.

SUPPORT

US based support team in UTAH. Call COREL and ask about contour cutting and get a big "HUH" Flexi support familiar with our business.

Flexi training webinars and DVD's focused Flexi AND our business not just features.

ISSUES

Do a goggle search

COREL Issues: 4,630,000 hits
Adobe Illustrator Issues: 4,350,000 hits
FlexiSIGN issues: 19,500 hits

No software is totally free of issues.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

ISSUES

Do a goggle search

COREL Issues: 4,630,000 hits
Adobe Illustrator Issues: 4,350,000 hits
FlexiSIGN issues: 19,500 hits

You are comparing Apples to Oranges.... Corel and Adobe are universal Tools, Flexi has a narrow market... Hence the massive difference.

Also Adobe and Corel User base is 1000x that of Flexi.

I hate when product companies say free upgrades for life, and neglect to say you pay monthly for those freebies.

 

[mrugen]

Good Point

You are comparing Apples to Oranges.... Corel and Adobe are universal Tools, Flexi has a narrow market... Hence the massive difference.

Also Adobe and Corel User base is 1000x that of Flexi.

I hate when product companies say free upgrades for life, and neglect to say you pay monthly for those freebies.

Aknowledge your point about the numbers, but my point is that each software has issues no matter the number of them. Granted COREL and AI used by lager market.

As far s free upgrade comment, of course nothing is free, not COREL, Adobe or Flexi. But with the subscription its paid on a monthly budget for a shop not one big punch each year. Owners can plan and budget better with this model.

 

[chester215]

Flexi cloud user here.
We also use flexi 8.something on older xp machines.
They both cut print and do what we need although we only do basic sign work here.
Can't open something on the older version saved by the newer version unless it is exported to something the older version can read.
If you have an issue with the cloud version you call tech support, they login to your computer and fix the problem.

Why did we purchase the cloud version?
Drivers for the hp latex printer we were purchasing at the time and the older version did not work with the newer version of windows on the computer we wanted use for printing.

Would I purchase it if I just wanted the newest version of flexisign? NO
would I purchase it if I needed the compatibility for my equipment? YES

There is no simple yes or no answer when thinking about upgrading anything. It is what you need or think you will need in the future to make you or your shop more productive.

 

[mrugen]

Agree

Sometimes the simple answers can be the most elegant! Nicely put Chester215

 

[WildWestDesigns]

But with the subscription its paid on a monthly budget for a shop not one big punch each year. Owners can plan and budget better with this model.

This is what gets me. I did a C/B ratio of Design Premium (all I need in my business) versus the Adobe CC when you could get both. If you bought CS6 (Design or Production Premium) full price, upgraded every new iteration (if they still offered both), in 7 generations, you would be saving money versus going with the subscription model. Now, that only applies if you use more then one program, but no more then the Design or Production Premium suites.

When you start talking subscription based, you have to think long term, not short term. Some people will say you save $XX amount that first year, that maybe true, but the next year you save less, then less the following year etc. I don't know Flexi's production cycle, so I don't know how often you would be looking at upgrade pricing etc for perpetual license or the price(s) for 1, 2 or 3 generation back.

Now, all these is moot if they only offer one type of license. I'm all about choices, rather or not I could benefit from CC or whatever subscription program or not, I am about choices. When they limit choices, that's what turns me off. I'm luckier then some as I can get away with using legacy software more then others when it comes to Adobe as I would say 95% of my customer supplied artwork is JPGs.

Bare in mind, in my industry, the full fledge "professional" programs (including the one that I use) go for 15k for the full version (they used to be 20k) and upgrading pricing is $1,400 every two years in the case of my software), so ROI on these are much longer then with Adobe (and maybe Flexi, but I don't know it's upgrade pricing). Considering how far digitizing prices have dropped, even longer.

 

[steve.leleaux]

maybe

Flexi cloud user here.
We also use flexi 8.something on older xp machines.
They both cut print and do what we need although we only do basic sign work here.
Can't open something on the older version saved by the newer version unless it is exported to something the older version can read.
If you have an issue with the cloud version you call tech support, they login to your computer and fix the problem.

Why did we purchase the cloud version?
Drivers for the hp latex printer we were purchasing at the time and the older version did not work with the newer version of windows on the computer we wanted use for printing.

Would I purchase it if I just wanted the newest version of flexisign? NO
would I purchase it if I needed the compatibility for my equipment? YES

There is no simple yes or no answer when thinking about upgrading anything. It is what you need or think you will need in the future to make you or your shop more productive.

Just switched from Flexi 8 for Mac to PC's and was provided a patch that allowed us to run on PC's with the same dongles. I use Flexi as rip software only and do my drawing in Illustrator, CS5. Other than having some issues opening .ai files, which were solved by simply deleting the .ai import filter fmor the SAi program files, Flexi has become stable, much more stable.
I purchased one month of the cloud version to try it out. Since my plotters are on spoolers and I didn't install production manager on them I didn't get around to doing all the testing I wanted to.
For me, I would need at least six copies to upgrade across the board and the cost of purchasing that many copies is not worth it. Being in a much larger shop, I think it would make sense to go with the monthly subscription. However, I still have reservations because we do use older versions of software for certain machines that we cannot upgrade. I would hate to have one of these "Free Upgrades" that put any piece of equipment out of use for any amount of time.

 

[VIP]

http://thegraphicsexperts.com/is-your-sign-or-printbusiness-protected-from-a-disaster/

One of the advantages of the subscription is free upgrades for life. Additionally, if you need a couple of copies of say Flexi Designer for a month or so, you can subscribe and stop any time. Furthermore, if you wish to do so, you can save your files via the cloud service offered they are safe from many disasters. In my opinion, its worth it for saving the money for upgrades to use on other stuff like inks and supplies.

Try stop paying, and see if you can still get the "free" upgrades.

 

[VIP]

Aknowledge your point about the numbers, but my point is that each software has issues no matter the number of them. Granted COREL and AI used by lager market.

As far s free upgrade comment, of course nothing is free, not COREL, Adobe or Flexi. But with the subscription its paid on a monthly budget for a shop not one big punch each year. Owners can plan and budget better with this model.

SAi doesn't release new Flexi versions every single year. The life cycle is more like 2 years. One can realistically get the perpetual Pro for about $2000. The $59.95/month subscription will cost $1438.8. If you upgrade every 3 years, you will break even. Enough said.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

SAi doesn't release new Flexi versions every single year. The life cycle is more like 2 years. One can realistically get the perpetual Pro for about $2000. The $59.95/month subscription will cost $1438.8. If you upgrade every 3 years, you will break even. Enough said.

You wouldn't have to upgrade in 3 yrs. That would be in between their lifespan (if the 2 years is correct, I don't know Flexi), so you would still be getting the same product if you were to have upgraded in 2 yrs. You would still break even even if you bought it a year earlier, you would just have to wait that extra year to "realize it". Which you would have to wait through anyway due to their life cycle.

And that looks like if you don't take advantage of upgrade pricing as well, if I'm reading those figures correctly. That would mean even less time (if they do have upgrade pricing for perpetual license).

 

[SightLine]

Try stop paying, and see if you can still get the "free" upgrades.

Or if you can do anything with all of your customers files that you have saved over the years as native Flexi files..... If you stop paying you better go through every single file you have ever saved as a native Flexi file and export it as a PDF or something first before you stop paying.

 

[copythat]

Hmmm

Sort of like driving a car till it no longer performs. You save lots of money not owning a new one and stay out of debt. Then one day a customer calls and says if you can come to his office he has a big job for you. You go out to the car and it wont start. Now what? You tell the customer your problem and he decides to give the job to a more modern updated shop near by, because he cant wait on you.


Mark this is where you lost me. Sounds like the insurance broker putting thoughs into your mind like. If you die do you want to burden your family with the cost of....You get my drift.

So let me see. $1000 now for the program, or $600 per year. I was using my old flexi on my old 1204 mutoh since 08' Never updated It! Now I have a 1624 Mutoh running two years on same Flexi that came with the program. Still haven't updated.

And on the part that you mentioned customer will look for a shop with an updated shop is offensive. My peers here and the printing industry are the most resourceful bunch of guys & gals!!! We manufacture anything and everything for our clients. The software to me is just my rip. I create and produce the best product and keep my clients happy. No software will do that for you...

For you to put present that analogy, is at the very least distasteful...JMO of course




Sign Up!

 

[mrugen]

Build for the future

Well, copythat, didn't mean to be offensive or to say that someone with old copies of software can't get things done and done right. Talent is talent no matter the tools. All I am saying is that professionals in most other businesses update from time to time. There is a new generation coming into ownership of business and they are mobile, social, digital and tend to look for the new or modern. Sure, you can handle them too, with what you've got, just making an observation from travelling around the US teaching in different markets.

Change is coming and fast, markets, media, inks, printers and people. No doubt digital signage is making inroads, textiles etc. These changes will at some point catch up with old, reliable tools and new ones will be needed. Until then, happy sign making.

 

[ddarlak]

Flexi lover here, but the day I buy any cloud product is also the day some alien took over my dead body and is running things....

f' the cloud

 

[copythat]

Nope

MARK

COREL Issues: 4,630,000 hits
Adobe Illustrator Issues: 4,350,000 hits
FlexiSIGN issues: 19,500 hits

No software is totally free of issues.[/QUOTE]

Corel & AI have been around far longer than Flexi Way far, so this example is incorrect to base your theories on.


JMO of course

 

[Techman]

The whole anti cloud things is..
The total expense of it all.

My son in college pays subscription ONLINE fees for his books, software, access to servers etc. The cost is $100 here, $100 there, but in the end its over grand just to get access. If he loses his IT machine for any reason he has to PAY those fees again to replace his stuff. The locking of access to the cloud to one machine and the fee schedules for those subscriptions is well beyond not fair.

Theft of IT equipment is rampant. Can we see why? Its not for the machine,, its for the access to accounts.

 

[mrugen]

Resistance is Futile

I know, I know... everyone hates the cloud. Tell it to the borg...their leader spells his name A..D..O..B..E

 

[mrugen]

Desktop or Subscription

http://www.cnet.com/news/how-greedy-is-adobes-creative-cloud-subscription-not-very/

By the way, here is a pretty good link to read, similar arguments could apply for Flexi Cloud.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

http://www.cnet.com/news/how-greedy-is-adobes-creative-cloud-subscription-not-very/

By the way, here is a pretty good link to read, similar arguments could apply for Flexi Cloud.

I did a quick look and they only went 3 yrs out with their price comparisons. That's still a pretty short turnaround. If you go to 7 yrs, Design and/or Production Premium are cheaper then CC and that's buying CS6 full price and upgrading every iteration.

I agree that for the Master Suite users and one or two program users, it's relatively cheap, but it isn't as great for the middle people that need the standard or production suites.

For something like the Master Suite, you really wouldn't be able to catch up with the CC cost wise.